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pappus |
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Pappus (păp`əs), fl. c.300, Greek mathematician of Alexandria. He recorded and enlarged on the results of his predecessors, including Euclid and Apollonius of Perga, in his Mathematical Collection (8 books; date conjectural). The six and a half extant books, edited and translated into Latin by Commandinus (1588), stimulated a revival of geometry in the 17th cent.; Descartes expounded several of his problems. The collection was reedited by Frederick Hultsch (1876–78). Pappus' other works include a commentary on Ptolemy's Almagest.
BibliographySee T. L. Heath, A Manual of Greek Mathematics (1931). pappus [′pap·əs] (botany) An appendage or group of appendages consisting of a modified perianth on the ovary or fruit of various seed plants; adapted to dispersal by wind and other means. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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In an essay on the "sagacity of bees," Pappus of Alexandria noted in the fourth century A. Here, amid manuscripts of Euclid, Archimedes, Apollonius, Pappus, Ptolemy, and others, we learn - and see - the roots of modern physical science. Peter Dear's survey of ideas on method shows that Galileo's advocacy of geometrical analysis derived from Pappus of Alexandria's Collectiones mathematicae, published in Latin in 1589 (151); Alan Gabbey's account of 'new doctrines of motion' brings out well Galileo's individual development of Peripatetic theories (651-52), while Michael Mahoney acutely shows both the advantages and limitations of Galileo's inheritance from Archimedean mechanics and scholastic kinematics (706-14). |
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